Tatsu333's 2020 BRZ Sport Tech RS

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

Thanks for that - looks pretty good! Hmmm...might make my decision easier.

EDIT: Just thought of this while reading your thread on the new SS2's - is it possible to get the parts to use stock front top mounts on the SS1's if I want to run them with the 15mm KW spring spacers to get ride height within 5mm of stock for winter?

We don't sell them without the camber plates but yes it is possible to get the parts to do that.

- Andrew

[Tatsu333]

Just a few pics of my car encased in ice from the freezing rain we had. At its peak, there was over 1 cm (about 1/2") of ice completely encasing my car! This is after it had already melted off quite a bit, as I was in the middle of scraping off the remaining 1 cm thick sheet of ice on my driveway and got close enough to my car to take the pictures.

My car narrowly escaped disaster the night before after my wife's SUV started sliding backwards down the driveway after we had parked it, missing my car's rear left quarter by just a couple of inches.

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

Thanks for that - looks pretty good! Hmmm...might make my decision easier.

EDIT: Just thought of this while reading your thread on the new SS2's - is it possible to get the parts to use stock front top mounts on the SS1's if I want to run them with the 15mm KW spring spacers to get ride height within 5mm of stock for winter?

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

We don't sell them without the camber plates but yes it is possible to get the parts to do that.

- Andrew

How about running something like the Subtle Solutions 1" Lift Kit spacers that fit between the top mounts and the body to bring the ride heights back up for the winter while leaving the camber plates / top mounts in place and spring collar settings the same?

Obviously I'd need to get the alignment done whenever these are swapped in/out, and this would be for street use in the winter only, not for track use or even really any "spirited" driving since I'll be on my snows when running this setup anyway.

Any concerns I may not be thinking of?

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

How about running something like the Subtle Solutions 1" Lift Kit spacers that fit between the top mounts and the body to bring the ride heights back up for the winter while leaving the camber plates / top mounts in place and spring collar settings the same?

Obviously I'd need to get the alignment done whenever these are swapped in/out, and this would be for street use in the winter only, not for track use or even really any "spirited" driving since I'll be on my snows when running this setup anyway.

Any concerns I may not be thinking of?

I'm not 100% sure if the lift kits will physically fit on the camber plates, that's all.

I will say that driving the car at 20mm lower than stock isn't too bad on plowed snow roads unless you have a lip/snowplow!

- Andrew

[Tatsu333]

Just a couple of minor updates:

I replaced the STI front underspoiler I damaged during the recent bad weather with a new one. There's $500 CAD I could have not spent...

Since I was ordering stuff, I thought I'd throw in the OLM heated wide angle side mirrors to help with the major blind spots this car has. The blue polarized ones were the only ones in stock, so that's what I went with. Easy swap with the factory heated mirrors.

No point taking pics - the front underspoiler looks exactly the same as pre-damage, and it's raining and pitch black out, so before / after shots of the rear view mirrors wouldn't be showing anything useful.

EDIT: I also swapped back to my Fast Wheels FC04's / Pirelli P-Zero All Season Plus tires and put my snows (on stock PP wheels) away. Of course, now that I've done that, we'll have an unexpected blizzard or freezing rain storm again...LOL. My plan if we get any more real wintry weather is just to leave it parked.

On another note, I've signed up for the Sports Car Club of BC (SCCBC) Driver Training course coming up in March at the local racetrack.

In addition to getting some instruction on driving the car more effectively, it will also get me a CACC (the local FIA / ASN motorsport sanctioning authority) Novice Race License, which some of the local groups require for participating in track days / HPDE events.

I've ordered some PowerStop Track Day brake pads and Motul DOT 5.1 brake fluid, which I'll switch over to when needed. I'm also planning on switching to 5W30 oil at my next scheduled oil change at the end of February for a little extra safety margin on track.

Oh, and I have a shiny new Pyrotect Pro Air Flow Duckbill SA2020 certified helmet on the way, since my old helmet from my karting days 15+ years ago won't cut it anymore.

The course includes a half day of classroom stuff, and two full days on track. Should be lots of fun!

I'm hoping to also get in one track day later in the year (one more is all my budget will allow this year), and aiming for four or five next year.

Eventually, a "bucket list" item for me will be to drive my car across the country to participate in the Targa Newfoundland tarmac rally. It's about $12,000 to run it, though, so that will be a ways off yet...

[Tatsu333]

Oh boy - new toys! I was getting close to doing the install of the used set of Koni's I picked up, and then came across @jflogerzi's classified ad selling his RCE SS1's. At the price he was offering, I just couldn't say no, so I pulled the trigger.

The coilovers as they arrived - promptly shipped and nicely packed by the seller:



A shot of the fronts installed (I forgot to take a picture of the rears before putting the wheels back on...LOL):



...and a shot of the fancy camber plates:



Solo installation went pretty well. I took my time, and only ran into a couple of snags.

First, one of the swaybar end links on the front was a real PITA to get undone because the end seemed to have swelled with rust. I wasted a TON of time on that, trying to undo it with my pass-through socket and allen key. Eventually ended up just using some locking pliers on the back side and my trusty cordless impact gun, and that got it sorted. Other side was a piece of cake. Fronts were done in about 1-1/2 hours maybe? The second side was only about 20 minutes of that.

Another small oddity was that the OEM upper knuckle bolts would only go in one way, and it was different from the left to the right side. The fatter shoulder of the OEM bolt wouldn't fit through the slotted hole the other way. So, on the driver's side they went through from the rear and on the passenger's side they went through from the front.

Second issue was in the rear when I couldn't get the stock struts with H&R springs out following the method in the instructions (undoing the swaybar end link and the control arm at the knuckle and pushing down on the control arm). Just could not get enough clearance, and then the strut and end link ended up turned in the control arm, which was then a pain to get straightened back out. I ended up opting to undo the inboard end of the control arm instead, and that worked MUCH better. Again, wasted a TON of time on the first side, taking at least 45 minutes, and then the second side took 15-20 minutes (with the wheels already off).

I had pre-set the ride height thanks to the info from this post from Andrew at RCE. I took his recommended measurements for a 25mm drop and subtracted 5mm to get the same 30mm-ish drop I had on my H&R springs. They measured out exactly right, with a 13.25" measurement from fender lip to the centre of the wheels front and rear, and I was sure glad not to have to do any monkeying around to get the ride height dialed in post-install.

I also set the dampers front and rear to RCE's recommended settings for the street (-14 from full stiff front which is 2 clicks from full soft / -16 from full stiff rear, which is full soft). Considering the MCA Traction Mod I have installed in the rear, I can likely go a little bit stiffer with the rear damping than the baseline recommendations without it getting too snappy, but I'm not ready to play around with that yet.

There is visibly less negative camber on the fronts vs. my previous setup using SPC camber bolts in the lower holes, and that's with it maxed out using the slotted upper holes and the OEM 16mm bolts. I have the camber plates currently set at 0 degrees and there's a lot of room for adjustment, so I'm not worried. I know Andrew recommends maxing out the camber with the slotted holes first using the "OEM camber bolts" (which are another set of the 14mm lower bolts used in the upper holes), but I don't have those.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm running standard OEM bolts (16mm top and 14mm bottom) - no "crash bolts" or camber bolts right now, so there's not a whole lot of adjustment in the slotted holes. I may end up using the SPC camber bolts in the lower holes again if there's any difficulty getting the desired negative camber with the camber plates, or if the change in SAI / KPI / scrub radius from using them results in any funkiness I don't like with the handling.

I have the car booked in for an alignment this coming Friday, and will have them set it up to -2.2 degrees in front using the camber plates (matching what my previous settings were). The rears were at -2.1 at the same ride height on my H&R springs, so I presume they're about the same now (they certainly look it). I'll have them verify (and adjust if necessary) for 0 front toe and 1/16th toe in each side in the rear, like my previous settings.

Ride quality impressions from a drive around town focusing on some of the worst roads in the area are quite good! While I wouldn't *quite* go so far as to say the ride is better than stock like some have said, it is still very impressive.

It's definitely more stiffly sprung than my H&R Sport springs, but the damping is WAY better than the Performance Pack Sachs struts. I would rate the overall ride quality pretty much the same as the H&R / PP struts combo (and a bit behind the stock Performance Pack setup), but with a couple of key differences.

First, it's a little busier over small road imperfections, but not bouncy. You can feel the road, but it's nicely damped. I'd say it's more "detailed" in its road feel than my previous setup, but not unpleasant.

Second, it is FAR superior on bigger bumps like sunken manhole covers, train tracks and what passes for road repairs in our town...LOL. My old setup was a bit "crashy" over that type of stuff, and while you definitely notice the impact with the SS1's, it is much more controlled and attenuated nicely. This is definitely down to the quality of the damping and the increased bump travel in the front.

I don't have any feedback on what it feels like with some "spirited" driving yet - I'm going to wait until after the alignment to push it a bit, and then I have my first track weekend with the car coming up in three weeks' time.

When I was first considering these coilovers way back when, I was thinking I'd likely have to swap out the springs for a slightly softer rate (maybe switching to 50-200's like the standard rear rate on the ST XTA's these are based on) for them to really be perfect on the street, but now I'm not so sure. They feel pretty good as-is, so I'll give it some time and see how they do longer-term.

Overall, super happy with the switch, and looking forward to putting these through their paces on my favourite roads and on track!

Thanks again to @jflogerzi for the great deal, fast shipping and updates / follow-up.

[jflogerzi]

I would go straight for 2.8-3.0 which is what the camber plates can do

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by jflogerzi

I would go straight for 2.8-3.0 which is what the camber plates can do

With the tires I'm running (Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus), it's probably not worthwhile. It'll just be a bunch more wear without much more grip, and will likely negatively affect behaviour on the road in the rain (which we get a lot of here- LOL).

When (if) I eventually get some track tires (probably RS4's), then I'll definitely go for more.

[Tatsu333]

...and then today, some jackass damaged my driver's rear quarter panel and bumper in a hit-and-run in a parking lot. People suck. So f-ing frustrating...

[Pat]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

With the tires I'm running (Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus), it's probably not worthwhile. It'll just be a bunch more wear without much more grip, and will likely negatively affect behaviour on the road in the rain (which we get a lot of here- LOL).

When (if) I eventually get some track tires (probably RS4's), then I'll definitely go for more.

Try it anyway. It's free and easy. Better to know for sure by learning through first-hand experience than just theorize and hope you're right.
I get where you're coming from. But it's so easy...why not? As long as there isn't significant toe and you enjoy the turns you don't have to worry about excessive wear. You might be surprised how much more grip you get, even with those tires.

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Pat

Try it anyway. It's free and easy. Better to know for sure by learning through first-hand experience than just theorize and hope you're right.
I get where you're coming from. But it's so easy...why not? As long as there isn't significant toe and you enjoy the turns you don't have to worry about excessive wear. You might be surprised how much more grip you get, even with those tires.

I get what you're saying, but I've been running at -2.2 in front for a year or so on the road, tire wear is dead even across the tread, and in the wet conditions we have here for most of the year, I'm comfortable with the current (or should I say pre-coilover) balance, so it's not really "just theorizing".

With the switch to the coilovers and their square spring rates and different damping, that's already some pretty significant change that can affect the balance, so I think I'll just go with what I already know and am comfortable with on alignment for now.

If after the track sessions (which are likely to also be wet), I feel like I can handle it having more front bite / more of an oversteer bias on a regular basis, then I'll adjust from there.

Presuming I don't have to max out the camber plates to get to -2.2 in front (remember, I'm not running crash bolts up top or camber bolts in the bottom, though the latter is a possibility because I do have them on-hand), then it should be simple enough to change it for my next track session and switch back for the street.

[Tatsu333]

Results from my alignment today weren't awesome.

With the stock bolts installed, slotted upper holes maxed out and camber plates maxed out, the most negative front camber the tech could achieve was -1.9. That in itself wasn't totally unexpected.

Since I didn't have the OEM "crash bolts" (I.E. the 14mm lower bolts to install in the upper holes), I instructed him to zero out the camber plates and re-use my SPC 14mm camber bolts in the 14mm lower holes they were designed for.

Instead, he put them in the slotted upper holes and took a LOT of messing around to get things locked down (as you'd expect with an undersized 14mm camber bolt in a 16mm hole, never mind the slotted hole on the struts). Meanwhile, I'm sitting in the waiting area wondering what the heck was taking so long.

He was, of course, able to get LOTS of negative camber (I think with both the bolts and plates maxed out, it was around -3.9), and had to dial things back at the camber plates, ending up at +0.5 degrees from 0 on the camber plates to hit my -2.2 degree target.

Nearly $400 later, he's "confident" the bolts won't slip in the slotted upper holes, but I don't trust them.

So, now I'm torn.

My gut tells me to pull those camber bolts out ASAP for safety reasons, so for right now I'm going to put the stock 16mm bolts back in and max out the camber plates, ending up somewhere around -1.9 degrees.

So - looking for opinions: which is better and why?

• Stock 16mm round bolts in 16mm slotted upper holes + SPC 14mm camber bolts in 14mm lower holes
• OEM 14mm round "crash bolts" in 16mm slotted upper holes + stock 14mm bolts in lower holes

Either way, I'm going to have to get another alignment done to be confident that my front toe isn't f'd up...

FWIW, I also found that I now have a bit more negative camber in the rear (-2.3 vs. -2.1 previously), likely meaning that my rear ride height is actually a little lower than before, even though I thought it measured out the same. I'm not overly concerned about that difference, so I'll just leave it as-is.

[Tatsu333]

So for now I swapped back in the stock bolts (top and rear), maxed out the negative camber with the slotted holes on the coilovers at the knuckle and maxed out the camber plates.

Eyeballing it, it looks like there's more negative camber in front than in the rear (which would put it at something beyond -2.3 degrees), but if the shop was right, that's just wishful thinking - they said that combination was around -1.9 degrees. I don't think my eyeball has that fine a calibration...LOL.

I'll get the alignment checked again elsewhere, make sure the front toe is still zero (if not, have it adjusted) and see if I still need more front negative camber.

If so, I plan to go with the SPC 81280 or Mevotech MS50201 16mm camber bolts in the top holes to keep it to a single adjustment point at the knuckle and have the *slight* added security of the 16mm cam spanning the entire hole in the knuckle vs. the OEM 14mm round crash bolts which would just be free-floating.

[Racecomp Engineering]

If you're aiming for -2.2 ish up front, easy easy solution is OEM lower bolt in both top and lower holes. Centered camber plates. And a good alignment person.

It's what I do and is very secure.

- Andrew